Game #14 Oilers Slip by Listless Habs

Details

Date: 8/11/2011
Opponent: Oilers
Location: Montreal

Loss: 1-3

Habs Goalie: Price (L)
Opposition Goalie: Khabibulin (W)

Habs goalscorers: Pacioretty
Opposition goalscorers: Jones, Gilbert, Smyth

Play of the game

A nice pass from Plekanec into traffic and onto Pacioretty's tape as he moved through neutral ice didn't look like much. Neither did the shot that Pacioretty took from the outside. The knuckleball slipped under Khabibulin's blocker and provided a somewhat lacklustre play of the game in a somewhat lacklustre game, but it energized a frustrated Habs squad and made them think that maybe this goalie could be beaten tonight, and gave them a real shot at pulling a point out of a rather mediocre performance.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

Max Pacioretty
I was glad to see him put that one in, given that he'd missed a big window of open net earlier in the third. Given that he was the only forward who could actually finish tonight, he makes the dome.

Mike Cammalleri
Once again anchored our most dangerous line with Eric Cole. The two combined for some amazing run-and-gun chances and exciting hockey. Hit the post at least once tonight and was probably even more surprised than me at Khabibulin's spectacular playing.

Erik Cole
Cole keeps impressing with his size, strength and speed. He helped create our best chances of the evening by using all three along with the excellent chemistry he's developing with Cammalleri to become a dangerous pair to have on the ice.

Defencemen

Hall Gill
Sometimes Gill makes it easy to forget that he's 6'7" and wears an "A" on his chest. Tonight was not one of those nights. Sometimes when you're that big, "pinching" means straight-arming an opponent at his own blue line and pushing both him and the puck back into the zone. Despite his bone-headed interference penalty in the first, Gill was solid in both ends and easily our best defenceman tonight.

P.K. Subban
It was tough picking a dome tonight, as we didn't have a lot going for us this game. Subban looks like he's getting back into the swing of things, though. He was one of the few players unafraid to shoot from the outside and blocked a couple shots as well. It wasn't a spectacular performance, but you didn't need one to make this dome...

Goaltender

Carey Price - Game Puck
It was hard picking a game puck tonight, and this was an impressive performance by Carey, and the official count of 13 shots against doesn't really give a good idea of the work he had to this evening. He didn't let himself get rattled by Jones' less-than-stellar breakaway goal, and made no mistake when Ryan Smyth tried exactly the same move only minutes later. Price kept us in this one until the end despite some good chances that might not have necessarily been recorded as shots.

Comments

A relatively fun game to watch with two fast teams that skate well and plenty of quick rushes, turnovers, and sudden chances. You have to give credit where credit is due, and the Oilers played a good hockey game. They did a great job of controlling the puck in their zone and never really let us develop much in the way of extended pressure. Their penalty killing was extremely disciplined and effective, and Khabibulin was in rare form.

That said, I don't think we played our best hockey tonight. We seemed flat through long stretches of the game, stifled by an Edmonton defence that allowed us to get a lot of transition chances and shots from the outside, but did a good job of controlling rebounds and recovering the puck. Kostitsyn was really noticeable in his absence tonight, and only dressing 11 forwards probably didn't help in that regard.

Given that we seem to want to be a run-and-gun team, we need to convert on more of those run-and-gun chances we keep getting and be more consistent on the power play. Complain all we want about the officiating in the Rangers game, but the fact remains that our power play simply isn't that dangerous - I would say we only looked even slightly dangerous on 2 of our 6 power plays tonight, and we lead the league in shorthanded goals against right now. The bottom line is that we need to find some finish on the ice, on the power play and at even-strength. Sooner would be better than later.

Price's Contract In Context

Yesterday the final big news of the summer for Habs fans marked a turning point, from watching chatrooms and runour sites to awaiting for play and game reports.

An initial scan of reaction shows a mix. There is plenty of relief that this contract is on the books before camp. There is fretting about its details. And thee is praise as well.

Before taking this any further, I just wanted to present the contract as I see. The signing as I see it in context of the league, the league's goalies and the Canadiens organization.


$2.75 million a season

In a summer of low-ball offers to goalies, this number seems a little high.

Since the 2009-10 season started, 30 other goalies signed contracts with NHL clubs. Realistically, 9 of those goalies can be considered starters: Halak, Rinne, Hiller, Niemi, Lehtonen, Turco, Ellis and Chris Mason. I suppose we need to throw in Leighton, as Philly will be counting on him too.

Of the 8, 4 teams signed starters for under $2 million (Turco, Mason, Ellis and Leighton). 4 teams signed goalies for over $3 million (Halak, Lehtonen, Rinne and Hiller). Antti Niemi is signed for $2 million on the nose.

Based on these 2 lists, I think it's fair to say that Price fits somewhere in between the two -- putting his value between $2 million and £3 million. Seeing as that's where he landed, I don't think there should be big surprise. Given, there's always the hope that Gauthier pries a $2.1 million deal out of this, but at $2.75, the fretting is for half a million.

I've said elsewhere that the Canadiens own salary structure is absolutely pivotal in evaluating this deal. It is. Carey knows what his teammates earn and he knows what his teammates do to earn that money. When Benoit Pouliot doubled his salary, that immediately set a low that Carey could not possibly go under, more like a low +$500,000. That's the £2 million right there. Then there's all those $5 million plus players, they factor in. Finally, Andrei Kostitsyn who won a contract as an RFA at a similar age, albeit under different circumstances. His $3.25 must have loomed in negotiations.


2 year term

On his conference call, Carey Price asserted that both sides agreed early on that 2 years was the right term. Horse hockey.

If possible, I think Carey would have liked to have come out of this contract as an unrestricted free agent. I think both he and his agent seeing this trend in goaltending contracts might have been happy to tack on years with modest raises per season. If they really thought last season was a horrendous anomaly, they'd have been all for a single season to come out an RFA again in 2011 rather than 2012 with the chance at cashing in at a higher rate then.

The 2-year contract seems more to me like a Canadiens stipulation, and a sensible one at that. 2 years does two things. For one thing, it means Price is locked up past next season, a critical one for other signings that don't need to be clouded by more decisions (Markov, Gorges). For another, it gives the team a short enough term to evaluate.

If Carey does well and grows into his role, the team gets a cheap starter for 2 years and then negotiates for market value when that time comes. If he stutters and is still learning in 2 years, the Canadiens have the leverage, as Carey will be an RFA with more than 200 games.

3 other things will have happened by that time. The first is that the CBA will in all likelihood expire that summer after the NHLPA extends it this season. Second is that carey will might played another season with a young rival if Karri Ramo comes over. The third is that other key goaltenders will potentially come available for signing at that time. Golatenders like Rinne and Cory Schneider will be UFAs. Tuukka Rask and Pavaelec will be RFAs.

I believe the Canadiens are entirely above board here. They obviously expect Carey Price to succeed, else they wouldn't have shipped Halak and Desjardins. However, in opting for 2 years, they avoid an uncomfortable agreement that drags long for no fruit while building in flexibility.


Halak

Finally, Halak.

As you all know, I'd have chosen Halak. But that's irrelevant now. Gauthier and Gainey didn't choose Halak. Rather, they chose Halak's trade return, salary savings and Price over Price's trade return, Halak and his extra cost.

In so far as this deal goes, though, we should be a little bit thankful to those who signed Halak. While it may seem like an overpay to some who prefer to cast him as a one-season wonder, his $3.75 million a season came under what a lot expected given past deals like Khabibulin's, Huet's and Ward's. If one thing must have been clear to both the Canadiens and Price's camp, it was that Halak had earned the bigger payday this time around, and so a real ceiling was set.

There will be fretting, of course, if Halak succeeds and Price doesn't. But that would have happened with either trade. This is Montreal.


Overall

The good things that can come out of this are numerous. If Carey plays well and really puts his stamp on the team, we will probably boast the cheapest quality starter in the league. If he plays at his 0.912 levels, we'll be OK and won't have been hoodwinked by any stretch

In all then, not the worst case scenario at all. Not even that far from the best outcome. It's somewhere in the middle.